The NHL Draft is almost upon us. On Thursday night, the Blue Jackets are scheduled to make two selections in the first round, sixth and 12th overall.
If you watch the Draft, might see that each prospect's profile includes their NHL Central Scouting ranking. There are four rankings, top North American skaters, top North American goalies, top European skaters, and top European goalies. Let's look at all ten first round-picks the Jackets have made since Jarmo Kekalainen took over as general manager and see how their draft position aligns with their ranking.
2021
- Kent Johnson - No. 5 overall pick, No. 3 N.A. Skater
- Cole Sillinger - No. 12 overall pick, No. 10 N.A. Skater
- Corson Ceulemans - No. 25 overall pick, No. 14 N.A. Skater
2020
- Yegor Chinakov - No. 21 overall pick, No. 30 European Skater
2018
- Liam Foudy - No. 18 overall pick, No. 19 N.A. Skater
2016
- Pierre-Luc Dubois - No. 3 overall pick, No. 1 N.A. Skater
2015
- Zach Werenski - No. 8 overall pick, No. 9 N.A. Skater
- Gabriel Carlsson - No. 29 overall pick, No. 2 European Skater
2014
- Sonny Milano - No. 16 overall pick, No. 16 N.A. Skater
2013
- Alexander Wennberg - No. 14 overall pick, No. 5 European Skater
- Kerby Rychel - No. 19 overall pick, No. 17 N.A. Skater
- Marko Dano - No. 27 overall pick, No. 12 European Skater
Taking a look at this year's rankings, the sixth and 12th-ranked North American skaters are defenseman Pavel Mintyukov and right-wing Jagger Firkus, respectively.
Shane Wright (@KingstonFronts), who ranked 8th in the OHL with 32-6294 in 63 GP during the regular season, maintains his position as the top-ranked North American skater in @NHLCentralScouts Final Rankings. #NHLDraft
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) May 5, 2022
Rankings, bios & more #NHLStats: https://t.co/VXYKhRGazc pic.twitter.com/jqKrLVz2HM
The sixth and 12-ranked European skaters are right-wing Jonathan Lekkerimaki and defenseman Elias Salomonsson, respectively.
After an MVP performance that helped Slovakia earn the countrys first-ever Olympic medal in ice hockey, Juraj Slafkovsky moved to the top of the list of international skaters for the 2022 Upper Deck #NHLDraft.
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) May 5, 2022
Rankings, bios and more #NHLStats: https://t.co/VXYKhRGazc pic.twitter.com/FsJegDwfVJ
Keep in mind that the NHL's Central Scouting Department does not put out an overall ranking that combines both the North American and European players, and since these rankings are not taken as gospel, don't be surprised if the rankings of the players do not align with where they are selected.
Here's how you can watch a potentially franchise-defining draft for the Blue Jackets. The first round will begin at 7 p.m ET on Thursday and the second round will begin at 11 a.m. ET on Friday.
Broadcast info for the draft next week
— Sean Shapiro (@seanshapiro) June 29, 2022
The first round will be broadcast on Thursday, July 7, at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN, ESPN+ in the U.S. and Sportsnet, TVA Sports in Canada. Rounds 2-7 will air on NHL Network, ESPN+ in the U.S. and on Sportsnet, TVA Sports in Canada on Friday
